TOUR 8 
The Riggins to Grangeville Route  

Riggins is the gateway to Idaho's famous "River Of No Return" and Hells Canyon, the deepest gorge in North America. The vast Salmon River country is nationally known for trophy big game hunting, superb fishing and pack trips into the wilderness. One of the best ways to experience this area is to take a whitewater float trip or jetboat excursion on the Salmon. Many outfitters offer trips of one or more days. The sport of salmon fishing has focused a lot of attention on Riggins in recent years and hatchery programs have brought the return of these magnificent fish to the Little Salmon River. 

The Rapid River Salmon Hatchery, just south of town, is an interesting and educational stop. If you choose to travel further south of Riggins on U.S. 95, you'll want to enjoy the "New Meadows" area where you'll find beautiful resort and camping facilities for summer and winter recreation. One the entire family will love is Zims Plunge! 

Just north of the fish hatchery, the rocky peaks of the Seven Devils Mountains are accessible via Squaw Creek Road. This well maintained Forest Service road rises almost seven-thousand feet from the valley floor to the Windy Saddle Campground. Be sure to bring your camera since mountain goats are a common sight at Windy Saddle and there are almost always a few snowbanks at this high elevation for a midsummer snowball fight. Windy Saddle is an excellent basecamp for backpack trips to mountain lakes or one-day explorations of the surrounding area. An interesting hike is the short but steep trail to Heaven's Gate Fire Lookout, where you can see the mountains of Montana on a clear day. 

The Hells Canyon National Recreation Area office, near the bottom of Squaw Creek Road, offers you additional vacation information. The Salmon River Road leaves U.S. 95 at the south end of Riggins and travels upriver for sixteen miles past small beaches. Campsites and colorful canyon scenery. The 1862 gold rush town of Fabulous Florence, which boasted a population of over 10,000, was not far from this area and you can still find evidence of the old mining days along the trails and backcountry roads. 

Near the end of the Salmon River, the Wind River Pack Bridge provides foot or horseback access across the Salmon and into the Gospel Hump Wilderness, one of Idaho's lesser known primitive areas. Its trails offer a true wilderness experience, with rushing streams, trout-filled mountain lakes and the kind of solitude found in few other areas of America. 

Early each May the wild west comes alive at Riggins with the Salmon River Rodeo. In October, Riggins reverberates to the foot-stomping sounds of the Old Time Fiddlers' Jamboree. The time zone changes just north of Riggins as you cross the Salmon River on U.S. 95. You can find plenty of good steelhead fishing here during the fall and winter. 

One of the best vistas into roadless Hells Canyon is on a forest service road that leaves the main highway near the small community of Lucille. This route is generally well maintained during the summer months and offers a spectacular view from the canyon rim down to the free-flowing Snake River. The nearby Slate Creek Ranger Station on U.S. 95 can give you a backcountry road map. While at Slate Creek, be sure to visit the turn-of-the-century log cabin restored by the Forest Service to portray the rugged living conditions of early rangers. The largest black walnut tree in the Pacific Northwest grows behind the cabin. Planted by a homesteader in 1869, it now has a circumference of over sixteen feet. If you drive up Slate Creek Road from this point, you will inter the Gospel Mountains, within easy backpacking range of several high lakes in the surrounding wilderness. 

As you continue your drive north on U.S. 95 along the Salmon, you will notice large dredges and other commercial mining operations. The bright nuggets of yellow that prompted gold rushes during the last century are still found in the Salmon River country. Soon you arrive at the Skookumchuck Rest Area where beautiful picnic sites and a natural sand beach invite you to relax in the sun or wet your feet in the clear waters of the Salmon. North of Skookumchuck, a rugged Forest Service road leads from the highway over the steep Salmon River Divide and down to Pittsburg Landing on the Snake River. This is a popular fishing and camping area, as well as a launch site for float trips down the Snake. This road also leads to the remote forested area of Joseph Plains, known for excellent elk and deer hunting. 

U.S. 95 leaves the Salmon River Valley near the town of White Bird and abruptly climbs more than three-thousand feet to the edge of the Camas Prairie. The steep hillside below the highway was the scene of the first battle in the Nez Perce War of 1877. An interpretive display midway up the hill explains the encounter between the Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph and the U.S. Cavalry. You can explore the White Bird battlefield more closely on the old White Bird Highway which twists up the hillside across the valley. This road, begun as a wagon trail in the mid-nineteenth century, is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

From the top of White Bird Hill to Grangeville, U.S. 95 cuts across the southern edge of the Camas Prairie, a traditional root digging area of the Nez Perce. Today, this region is a major producer of wheat. 

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